PESHAWAR – An army major embraced martyrdom in an exchange of fire during a search operation at a terrorist hideout in Kulachi, Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday.

According to a press release issued by Director General Inter-Services Public Relations, the 28-year-old martyr, Major Ishaq, hailed from Khushab, Punjab.

The deceased is survived by a widow and an infant.

The funeral prayer of the soldier was performed at Dera Ismail Khan and was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other high-ranking officials, including Corps Commander Peshawar Lt Gen Nazir Butt.

The Director General of ISPR major Asif Ghafoor took to Twitter and asserted that the homeland would be protected.

‘We have a sacred duty at hand of cleansing & defending our motherland; WE SHALL DO IT’ he said.

The martyred official is the fourth officer to be killed in the line of duty in the past three months.